


First Love Stays With You Forever

by MeredithBrody



Series: NaNoWriMo [4]
Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-26
Updated: 2013-11-26
Packaged: 2018-01-02 16:52:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1059253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeredithBrody/pseuds/MeredithBrody
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After getting a message about his first love passing away, Jon talks to Erika about first loves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	First Love Stays With You Forever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sokorra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sokorra/gifts), [PinkAngel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkAngel/gifts).



> This fic was inspired by the song "Red Cortina" by the Saw Doctors. The title is also from the song.

It had been a long time since they’d just been able to lie out together and know they weren’t going to be distracted. They had two full nights off, and were spending it camping just outside of the colony on Proxima. It was better than being on the ships, where there would be a temptation for their staff to run decisions by them. Here they could only be contacted when necessary, and it meant they had the privacy they’d both been craving.

Restocking runs were low priority for Starfleet right now, so this was a rare opportunity not only for leave, but for the two ships to be anywhere at the same time. They had been parsecs apart for months until today. Almost the minute they’d sorted the tent out they’d celebrated being together again, and now they were laid out on a blanket studying the familiar stars in unfamiliar constellations, each lost in their own thoughts.

Jonathan shifted slightly after a while, leaning toward her a little more. She felt his eyes on her cheek for a few moments, before he started to say anything. "You know how they say you never forget your first love?" He asked, and she tilted her head to look at him, wondering what was going through his mind.

Her first love, that was a long time ago, she wasn’t even sure if she could remember everything about him. Only his name, and why she’d decided in her seven year old mind that she was going to end up marrying this kid. She’d obviously been wrong about that. "Yeah?" She replied after a few seconds, letting her mind drift over the information from back then.

"Who was yours?" Jon asked, threading the fingers of his spare hand through hers, leaning close to her as she thought it out. It was hard to put it into words.

"Jimmy Gibbon, third grade. He gave me chocolate milk at lunch every day for three months." She smiled, remembering those old days. It had been so long ago, at least it felt that way. She had wanted to be the only one he gave his milk too. Then Christmas had rolled around and they’d been put in different classes afterwards and Jimmy had found another girl. She’d been crushed for a week, then Simon had given her his bike and she’d been over it.

"Do you ever think about him?" Jon asked, clearly thinking himself. About how she could apparently be bought with chocolate milk or something different she wasn’t sure, but she squeezed his hand and smiled. Having to think about when she’d last thought about him probably said how rare it was for her to actually think about him.

"Not really. Third grade was almost 40 years ago. I still like chocolate milk though, yes that was a hint.” She grinned slightly as he laughed at that, then squeezed his hand again. Wondering where this conversation was going. “Who was yours?" She asked, not really certain if she wanted to know another one of the women in Jon’s long history, but it was different when you were a kid.

This time it was Jon’s turn to go quiet, shifting slightly so he was closer to her as he did. She wondered if it was some way of him admitting something to her, but somehow she didn’t think that was actually it. He kissed her cheek again before he spoke, taking another deep breath in and out. "Melissa James. In fifth grade."

She grinned at that, he’d have been 9 or 10. For some reason the mental image of a tiny smitten Jon amused her more than it should have done. "A late bloomer. Tell me all." She asked, hoping that he wasn’t going to clam up and that be all he gave her. Not after she’d revealed her Chocolate Milk fetish. It wouldn’t be fair if he got away with saying so little when she’d said it all.

Jon sat up slightly and looked at her with a small smile before settling again. "She was sweet. I took her to the spring fling.” She allowed that mental image to form. Jon getting all nervous to ask out the girl he liked. It was a cute image. “She danced with Jack O'Reilly and told me that she wanted to be friends because she liked Jack." Jon still sounded just a little bitter about that, and she resolved not to ask again.

They both laid back, and she went back to thinking. Noticing a funny coincidence that had her chucking, and Jon looking at her like she was losing her mind. "I think it's funny they were both called James."

"That is pretty funny." He admitted a second later then giving her a gentle kiss before settling down to look over the stars again. They lived among those stars, but it still made her smile to see them like this, distorted by an atmosphere- twinkling above them as if they were hiding their secrets.

The twinkling lights made her think of the question she hadn’t asked Jon. One that she did somewhat want to know the answer to. "Do you ever think about Melissa?"

He shook his head then sighed heavily. She wondered if this was where she’d learn why he’d brought this topic up. "Not for a long time. I got a message that she died last week. So I've been thinking about her a lot lately.” He squeezed her hand tightly, and she returned that gesture. It made a lot of sense that he’d be thinking about her, especially considering the close losses they’d both experienced recently. Jon shifted back into his close position and held to him tightly.“It just reminded me how long ago all of that was, and how much my life has changed."

"Do you regret it? Melissa? Anything?" She asked, hoping that this wasn’t the beginning of another spiral like she’d seen after the Expanse.

"Not for a second.” He said without even a pause, and Erika smiled at that. Jon moved closer so that he could practically whisper in her ear. “She may have been my first love, but you're going to be my last. 'Cause you're stuck with me forever."

"Wouldn't want it any other way Jonathan, wouldn't want it any other way." She smiled and shifted herself up slightly so she could kiss him properly. It had been a very long time since either of them had been in this position, and while she understood it was probably a sad time for Jon, she really hoped that it made him happy of where his life had brought him. Maybe that was why those childhood memories stayed with you. To remind you that life never stayed the same, and that you should be happy with what you had while you had it.


End file.
